Coalition Comments on Changes to Proposed Regulation Prohibiting Wasteful Water Use Practices Feb 14, 2018 Comment Letters Agency: State Water Resources Control Board Subject: Comment Letter – Changes to Proposed Regulation Prohibiting Wasteful Water Use Practices Signatories: ACWA, Cucamonga Valley Water District, East Bay Municipal Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Northern California Water Association, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, State Water Contractors, and Western Municipal Water District. Letter excerpt: Although we very much support the conservation objectives of the Regulation, we believe using waste and unreasonable use as the tool to reach these conservation objectives is problematic and inconsistent with the law. That said, we believe conservation is critical and, as such, have suggested many other ways the Regulation could be implemented. As discussed in many of the comments previously submitted, the SWRCB’s authority to determine waste and unreasonable use of water is an adjudicative act that requires due process of law. The Regulation is defective because it has the effect – if not the purpose – of diminishing water rights by legislative means, without any process whatsoever. The Regulation therefore turns the water rights system on its head. Several of the comment letters previously submitted to the SWRCB proposed minor and sensible modifications to the legal framework for Regulation that would have no effect on the substance or objectives of the conservation measures in the Regulation. These comments surgically addressed the serious water rights and due process concerns created by the proposed Regulation. Yet, those comments were ignored in the modified Regulation distributed by the SWRCB on January 31, 2018. The SWRCB should not ignore these significant legal issues, particularly when there are other lawful grounds supporting the proposed conservation measures. Download coalition letter
